The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

Happy new year! Now that we can begin 2019 in earnest, we have our first Eurovision entry up for discussion. This week's episode starts with some Eurovision in the Wild. Ben rocked a Swedish pop music quiz while Mike spotted Englebert Humperdinck (ESC 2012) on the way to Detroit. We also discuss the ESC 250 countdown and some of the surprises in this year's edition. We also have some updates on ho...

As we wrap up 2018, we get ready for Albania's Eurovision selection process, check in with Spain, and see how Spotify puts us on blast. First up, the 57th edition of Festivali i Këngës will begin Thursday with three days of competition to determine the first Eurovision entry for 2019! Will the new format of the competition lead to better results for the country in next year's Contest? Meanwhile, S...

Are you looking for Eurovision gifts for friends or loved ones? We have suggestions. As we get ready for the holidays and the end of 2018, there's plenty of excitement afoot for 2019. Armenia has made the first artist selection for next year's Eurovision Song Contest. Meanwhile, Latvia and Estonia have released their songs up for consideration for the competition. Could there be a winner in the mi...

Happy Thanksgiving! We're talking turkey this week and that means either the country or Ireland's Dustin the Turkey. Guess what we chose. Before we gobble up our main topic of Dustin the Turkey, we check in with how Eurovision planning is going in Tel Aviv. We have our final count of participants—42!—and an indication that tickets for the Contest could be up for grabs next month. We also recommend...

How does the voting process work at Eurovision? If you think it's confusing now, the history of voting at the Contest has many surprises. With mid-term elections happening this week in the US, we wanted to talk about how voting works when the consequences aren't as... consequential. One can dream, right? Speaking of, we discuss next year's slogan "Dare to Dream" as well as other preparations curre...

Eurovision provides an aftermarket for winners of singing competitions. Why don't we have that in America? Andy Dehnart from Reality Blurred joins us to discuss. First up, we check in with the soon-to-be-final tally of countries participating in Eurovision 2019. We were at 40 once Armenia confirmed, but Bulgaria announced their withdrawal due to budget concerns. Speaking of budget concerns: Ukrain...

Orchestras used to be a requirement at the Eurovision Song Contest. In this episode, we take a look at the evolution of live (and "live") music at the competition. We're getting close to having a final-ish guest list for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest with 40* countries confirming their interest.((Armenia confirmed after we recorded.)) Yes, it's still a Facebook Maybe at this point and there are...

Tel Aviv will be hosting Eurovision in 2019! I mean, we pretty much knew that, but now it's official! On this episode of the Eurowhat Podcast, we check in with the venues around Tel Aviv that will be hosting the big events in May. Will the Tel Aviv Convention Center be big enough to hold the Eurovision fandom? How is the green room supposed to work? And are hotels already busting budgets for fans?...

We know the Eurovision Song Contest will be in Israel((Maybe Tel Aviv, maybe Jerusalem)) in May, so now is the perfect time to start planning your vacation! First, Mike and Ben go over some of the news items from the last couple weeks. Will there be boycotts of the 2019 Contest? Denmark doesn't think so, while Estonia and Spain are full speed ahead on their Eurovision plans. America's Got Sweden's...

Israel has had a fascinating history at the Eurovision Song Contest. Now that they will be hosting the 2019 edition, we've invited Noam Roth from EuroFreak to talk about his country's participation. Now that the budget kerfuffle is behind us and Israel's broadcaster has paid its deposit to the EBU, we can officially start talking about the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest! Noam Roth—who reached out to...

We gave a computer more than 300 Eurovision Song Contest entries from the last decade and this is what it gave us. Songwriting might not be so hard after all. The EuroWhat is back after a surprise hiatus with a jam-packed episode. First, Ben and Mike catch up on a month of random Eurovision sightings. Starbucks? NBC's daytime and nighttime schedule? Johnny Weir's Instagram? Yes, yes, and yaaaaaaaa...

Is there anything more EuroWhat? than the World Cup? How about World Cup songs performed by Eurovision Song Contest alumni? Yeah, that oughta do it... This week, Ben and Mike take a listen to a handful of songs from 2018 that were created for the sole purpose of cashing in celebrating the quadrennial soccer futbol extravaganza that is the FIFA World Cup . Did you know that there is an official Wor...

Happy 4th of July! In honor of America's birthday, special guest Maura Johnston joins us to discuss the prospect of the US competing at Eurovision. Could we?  Should we? If we somehow got an invite, who should represent whatever our sound is? After introducing our guest, we catch up on some listener feedback and check in with Israel's status as Eurovision 2019 host. We also start filling out...

What if the Eurovision Song Contest were a secret plot to take over the world by forcing people to exercise daily to the winning song? On this week's episode, Ben, Mike, and special guest Josh Hehner explore this dystopia(?) in the 1980 film  The Apple . To celebrate his recent birthday, Ben took in a midnight screening of the 1980 not-quite-a-cult classic  The Apple . In this movie, a E...

Happy pride! The Eurovision off season can be a drag, so let's talk about drag at Eurovision! First up, we check in with how Eurovision 2019 prep is going. Short version: it's been three weeks; cool yer beans. There have been a couple of Eurovision sightings in the US, including "Toy" in Times Square and San Marino(?) on the Billboard Charts(????) . As for the main topic, Ben and Mike take a tour...

The gang is back together to discuss the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final. Our special guest Dave Steeves shares his experience as an audience member in Lisbon and we all weigh in on the dubious honor of the Barbara Dex award. This week we finally check in on the Grand Final results, including Austria's surprise jury win and the awkwardness of Israel's overall win. We look at the semi-fina...

The Grand Final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest takes place Saturday, May 12. That means this is our last chance for wild speculation. We break down what happened at the semi-finals before sharing our hopes and dreams for which countries we want to win. This week we welcome  Barbara Sawhill to the panel to chat about what happened in Tuesday and Thursday's live shows. We discuss just how...

It's showtime! 37 countries will be competing in the Eurovision semi-final rounds Tuesday and Thursday. We share our thoughts on the rehearsals as well as suggestions for how to make your Eurovision party on Saturday a fun experience for everyone. Our preview begins with an explanation of how Eurovision's complicated points system works. If you are hosting a Eurovision party this year, we offer re...

As the Eurovision semi-finalist rehearsals are underway in Lisbon, the EuroWhat chats about the six auto qualifiers for this year's Grand Final. Will Portugal be a repeat winner? Will a Big Five country take the crown? Why so serious, Europe? After a brief check-in with the first semi-final rehearsals—get well soon, Mikolas Josef!—we take a look at the jury who will provide half the Eurovision poi...

The second half of the second semi-final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest is a European hodgepodge of pop, rock, dance, ethno-jazz, and... whatever it is Montenegro's doing (never change). We break down the last nine semi-finalists in this week's podcast. Eurovision 2018 Semi-Final 2 Hodgepodge Summary Listener Feedback (3:03) Eurovision: The Board Game (5:37) Avicii (8:24) LogoTV's Plan (10:02...

The first half of the second Eurovision semi-final is extra bubbly this year. Er... that should be bubble-y because there are few sure bets, even among perfect streak holders. We break down the field in this week's episode. Eurovision 2018 Australia and Others Summary Eurovision Album Drop (2:58) Eurovision in Concert (9:18) Second Semi-Final First Half (11:50) Eurovision Second Semi-Final Running...

Before the big party in Lisbon next month, we chat about the London Eurovision Party and other pre-festival shindigs. We also finish up talking about the first semi-final, including our hopes and dreams for what we'll see on stage. Bringing the Party Summary London Eurovision Party (4:28) Eurovision Song Contest First Semi-Final Second Half (11:19) First Semi-Final Running Order First Half ( last...

This week we begin our analysis of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in earnest. First up: the first half of the first semi-final! Which entries are locks for advancing to the Grand Final? Who might get help from the running order? Why is Staples playing Eurovision songs from 2016? First! Summary Eurovision Viewing Parties (3:50) Why is Staples playing "Sunlight" ? (5:20) Analyzing the semi-final (...

This week we have a mini episode where we remember some of the Eurovision national final entries that won't be making the trip to Lisbon. We also take a moment to remember Lys Assia, the original ESC chanteuse. Episode Summary Remembering Lys Assia (2:56) Scandilove (Norway) (7:05) Í Stormi (Iceland) (11:31) Sunset (Latvia) (14:52) Леля (Lelya) (Ukraine) (19:35) Puerto Rico (Armenia) (22:07)

This week we chat about the last six entries for Eurovision 2018 with special guest Barbara Sawhill. Are we buying the hype for Israel's "Toy" as this year's favorite? Do we have "Bones" to pick with Bulgaria? What is up with Georgia's curtain lady? Dita Von Teese Curtain Monster Summary Eurovision in the Classroom (2:34) Russia - Yuliya Samoylova - "I Won't Break" (9:04) North Macedonia - Eye Cue...